August 12, 2021: -Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said that the world would be “shocked” by the financial revenues generated by the club’s signing of global soccer player Lionel Messi.Messi has now signed a two-year deal with PSG, with an option for a third, to net him an annual salary of $41 million-plus bonuses and a reported $30 fee million signing fee.
The signing can bring a windfall of commercial revenues through the avenues as jersey sales. When Cristiano Ronaldo signed for Italian giants Juventus in 2018, over $60 million of his shirts were purchased in just one day.
On Wednesday, at a press conference for Messi as a PSG player, Al Khelaifi suggests that the club may release the precise figures behind the deal at the fixed date but told reporters that they would be “shocked at the numbers we have.”
Messi left FC Barcelona in the previous after financial rules imposed by Spain’s La Liga made it fiscally impossible for the troubled club to follow through on his five-year contract agreement.
On Monday, the 34-year-old Argentine started crying while bidding farewell to Barcelona and told Wednesday’s press conference that the past week had been a rollercoaster of emotions.
He has won FIFA’s player of the year award and the European Golden Shoe for the continent’s top scorer, a record six times each, and departed Barcelona after two decades with the Catalan club. He contributed 672 goals in all competitions and won 34 trophies.
On Wednesday, Kieran Maguire, lecturer in football finance at the University of Liverpool, told CNBC that while the deal may not have a substantial commercial impact on France’s ailing Ligue 1, it will further bolster the dominant PSG.
“They put 150,000 shirts on sale on their website, the previous night at 10 in the U.K, and they had sold out in seven minutes, so there are certainly opportunities from commercializing and monetizing the Messi’s name, and that will have allowed the club to have funded his salary,” Maguire said.
Along with looking to regain the French Ligue 1 title, PSG seeks an elusive first UEFA Champions League crown, which fell to Manchester City in the semi-final in the previous year. Owners of Qatar Sports Investment have spent extravagantly building a star-studded squad in the hopes of dominating European football.
“I’m looking forward to getting out there in the field, and my hopes of winning remain intact, and that is the reason why I am here,” Messi told the press conference.
“I want to win another Champions League, and I think I’m in the right place to do that,” Messi added.
